Tom Sawyer Island, circa 1958 (pre-lawyer)

Gorilla’s Don’t Blog reveals another interesting tidbit from Disneyland’s past. Using photos of Tom Sawyer Island from c.1958 we discover that the island was once so popular that it had three landings for the rafts. I was under the impression that there was just one landing working at any time and that it just moved around a bit over the years. I guess you learn something new every day.

If you’ve been reading Disney fan sites, then you know that Tom Sawyer Island is scheduled to get the ‘Pirate’ treatment, in part due to the success of the Pirates Of The Caribbean movie franchise. “Pirate Lair on Tom Sawyer Island” is planned to appear sometime later this year or early next year.

It’s been sad watching the once lively and imagination encouraging island get neutered by Lawyers worried about lawsuits and suits worried about maintenance numbers. No word yet if the Pirate overlay will include a much needed overhaul of Fort Wilderness which has been closed to visitors for much too long.Technorati Tags: disneyland, tom sawyer, imagineer, pirates, pirate lair, potc